Following a pair of boring installments, The Simpsons Season 25 Episode 5 provided some genuine laughs. Thank goodness, right?

The story of Homer's strange fascination with a stranger's child highlighted what's both genuinely sweet about the character and incredibly frustrating.

Homer is a moron. There's no denying it. BUT he's (mostly) honest and has a good heart. That's why Marge loves him so much. For all his buffoonery and senseless destruction, Homer attempts to make things right for others in his own way.

So when he saw a fatherless baby in need of some paternal guidance, he didn't hesitate to step in and help. Homer was definitely pleased that someone finally got to be Homer Junior so that he could use his hilarious nickname "HoJu" from back in Season 4's "Marge vs. the Monorail." (The show is usually more successful when it reminds of its early days of glory, don't you think?)

However, what's really wrong about Homer's time with HoJu is that it comes at the expense of his time with his own children,, especially Maggie.

Homer's not really the world's greatest dad, but I always thought he had special relationship with Maggie. Remember quietly moving ending Season 6's "And Maggie Makes Three"? The phrase, "Do it for her," still causes tears to well up in my eyes.

It was funny to see both Homer and Maggie fantasize about being with someone else (HoJu for him and Flanders for her) when hanging out together, and the moment when Maggie forces her fantasy of Flanders to become Homer returns to that gag in a  sweetly sentimental way.

While Homer's story was pretty amusing and there were some great The Simpsons quotes this week, Lisa's story just couldn't seem to capture my attention much.

What did you think?